This was the heartwarming moment Indian officials succeeded in reuniting a leopard family after persisting for 19 days.

A villager spotted an injured three-month-old leopard cub on the roadside near Mandvi town in western India on October 18th.

The leopard, which had been probably hit by a motorcycle, did not have any external injuries but was unable to walk.

He called forest officials, who took the cub to a veterinary college, where it was treated for its injuries. Five days after the accident, the cub was fit to be released in the wild and the officials started enquiring about the mother leopard with the local villagers.

They made a list of the places where the mother and her other cub were sighted, and set up several CCTV cameras to track her.

They zeroed in on a place which the mother frequented and placed her lost baby in a basket to help her retrieve him.

Though the mother took note of the basket, she made no attempt to claim her cub. Thinking that the basket was too well covered, officials then kept the cub in a see-through partially open container and kept vigil for a few days.

On November 6th, the mother and her cub arrived at the spot and this time she went close to the container and overturned it. The lost cub emerged out and cuddled with his mother. The sibling also recognised the cub and greeted him playfully.

District forest officer (DFO) Puneet Nayyar said: “Our staff put in a huge effort to reunite the cub and the mother. We took care of the cub and tried to reunite the family for several days. It was a joy to see them getting back to the forest together.”

“We have reunited cubs with their mothers after a separation of three or four days in the past, but never after such a long gap. They recognised each other instantly,” he added.

This was the heartwarming moment Indian officials succeeded in reuniting a leopard family after persisting for 19 days.

A villager spotted an injured three-month-old leopard cub on the roadside near Mandvi town in western India on October 18. The leopard, which had been probably hit by a motorcycle, did not have any external injuries, but was unable to walk.

He called forest officials, who took the cub to a veterinary college, where it was treated for its injuries. Five days after the mishap, the cub was fit to be released in the wild and the officials started enquiring about the mother leopard with the local villagers.

They made a list of the places where the mother and her other cub was sighted, and set up several CCTV cameras to track her. They zeroed in on a place where the mother frequented, and placed her lost baby in a basket to help her retrieve him.

Though the mother took note of the basket, she made no attempt to claim her cub. Thinking that the basket was too well covered, officials then kept the cub in a see-through partially open container and kept vigil for a few days.

On November 6, the mother and her cub arrived at the spot and this time she went close to the container and overturned it. The lost cub emerged out and cuddled with his mother. The sibling also recognised the cub and greeted him playfully.

District forest officer (DFO) Puneet Nayyar said: “Our staff put in a huge effort to reunite the cub and the mother. We took care of the cub and tried to reunite the family for several days. It was a joy to see them getting back to the forest together.”

“We have reunited cubs with their mothers after a separation of three or four days in the past, but never after such a long gap. They recognised each other instantly,” he added.